Precious
by HarvestBoys
Summary: Yolanda decides its time the Inn started delivering TO it's customers. One-shot. YAOI


** Hey y'all! This Kat from Harvest Boys! As explained in that first author note, we're two BFFs that are writing separately, but sharing ideas, and even sometimes telling each other what to write flat out…but it's fun! You may have read Nicole's story, "Baby Wars," for those of you that did and liked it, you can expect a second chapter really soon! We've been working really hard to get these done lately.**

**Warnings:Yaoi  
**

**Disclaimed  
**

It was nearly noon time on a typical Monday of Waffle Island, the sun was high in the sky and the leaves were green and lush. The numerous residents on the small island were full of energy and life as they hummed and went about their business on the beautiful August day. Many of the villagers were hard at work trying to please those that they worked for, and it was seldom that you didn't see the waffle citizens trying their best. Especially when the day was as nice as this one, even Gill was humming on his way to town hall after waking up late. And usually after waking up late, he'd scream and make all the townspeople run for their lives. The dirt roads of Waffle Town seemed prettier in the sunlight, and the foliage around the whole town swayed in a light breeze.

The wide expanse of blue sky was deep and attractive; the only clouds that dotted it were light, white, and feathery. The cool temperature was as comfortable as it could get, and many villagers were trying to spend some time outside in the air every once in a while. Even one of the kitchen windows at the Sundae Inn was slowly being slid down, allowing an orange haired chef to stick his head out and get some cool air as he prepared a lunch. However, this wasn't just any lunch-whether it was only subconscious or not, he was putting special effort into the contents of this meal.

Luke had apparently ordered lunch up at the front desk, and he did it differently than he usually did. He'd called in, told Yolanda he was in the woods chopping down a tree, couldn't leave, and asked if he could buy lunch anyway. Now; Yolanda, being a woman who wants as much business as possible said yes, and that she'd have Chase _go into the woods to find Luke and deliver it. _However; she was so caught up in the though of Chase going into the woods to deliver something, that she completely forgot to ask Luke what he actually wanted _in _his Lunch. Chase had grown used to serving Luke during the Lunch hours, and would occasionally (Getting to be even more often as time progressed) sit next to Luke once he had no more orders to fill, and they'd talk to one another. It was a simple and normal thing to do…

After a while of talking to each other every day, Luke and Chase were actually friends-as much as it killed Chase to admit it at times. But Luke had always come to the Inn in order to try something new, every lunch he'd experiment with a meal he'd never had before. So what Chase never got to learn-was what Luke _liked _to eat, and Chase truly wanted to please his friend with this lunch. He even went so far as to sneak out and up to the town hall to consult Gill's book of people, though in a real community you can't just see how much a person likes you-so in Gill's book there were no heart levels.

So here Chase is, preparing Spinach.

He works quickly and precisely, he was quiet too-but his mind was buzzing and thinking up a storm…he kept thinking about Luke and how he was probably being as careless as always. Then he actually started to worry a bit and wondered if he should hurry up and go find him already-this was strange because Chase usually didn't care about people that much, and especially not people who are Luke. It was okay because he eventually stopped worrying and felt better, the spinach was almost done too-so not too long before he could leave for the Forrest.

As he was packing the plastic container of spinach, he also began to wonder if he'd see that strange red eyed witch again. He hoped not. Then he remembered one other thing he'd been told by Luke in one of their many conversations-and that was that Luke loved Mayonnaise. So Chase turned around toward the refrigerator and pulled some out to pour into a separate container, then he tossed the mayonnaise into the brown paper bag and rolled it up. He was in a hurry and didn't hesitate in the slightest to grab the bag and head out towards the forest to give Luke his lunch.

Though to his extreme distain, as he exited the Inn he was followed by a little nuisance-a nuisance with big blue eyes and a pink dress. Maya was grabbing his hands and trying to force him to allow her to come with him to bring Luke his lunch-too bad that would only happen over Chase's dead body. He turned to her with his best glare on his face, "Maya, to me you're nothing but an imp. I don't want you embarrassing me-and don't even tell me you're not going to, cause you are! You always do!" He pointed his finger as she opened her mouth to object, "Maya, just go back inside and ask your grandma to cook with you. You obviously need the practice." Then he gestured her towards the Inn door before quickly turning his back to her and heading in the opposite direction.

As he walked on he heard her pouting and stomping her foot, but he eventually heard her enter the Inn and the door slam closed. He laughed a bit in triumph before continuing on with an emotionless face, though he was in a good enough mood that he even said hello to _Julius _as he pasted by-and it wasn't often that the Chef acknowledged the fashionista's existence.

It definitely wasn't long before he reached the forest to find Luke chopping at trees as usual; he seemed pretty in the zone too. Chase truly didn't expect Luke to want to be bothered, it wasn't as if Chase expected to get special treatment when he interrupted Luke-he expected to get glared at and maybe even called a name. Which is why when he reluctantly stepped forward and called Luke to get his attention, he was surprised that Luke turned towards him looking a bit pissed-but actually calmed down and started smiling when he saw that the one who'd disturbed him was Chase.

However, Time seemed to have frozen as Chase realized that Luke was almost glistening with sweat-and it didn't help that Luke had fairly sized muscles from chopping trees and wood. Chase was using all self control just to not gawk at the sight in front of him-but Luke standing there like that was just too much to handle for him. He began to breathing quite heavily, 'That is _not_ sexy!' He told himself, 'Just look away!' And he truly tried to look away as well. Luke realized that Chase was looking around strangely and began to look at him with a look of confusion on his face, Chase was shaking his head frantically(as if trying to rid himself of the inappropriate thoughts running through his mind)-and Luke was pretty sure he saw a thick blush on Chase's cheeks.

Without thinking Luke grabbed Chase's head and held it still, "So Yolanda said you'd be here to bring me my lunch?" Though before Chase started paying attention again, Luke took the chance to look him over quickly.

Then Chase's eyes focused suddenly as he remembered the brown paper bag clenched in his right hand, "Oh, Yes." He brought the bag up in front of the other boy as Luke let go of his head, "Since you never told Yolanda what you wanted in it, it was sort of hard to try and figure out what you would want to eat-so I really hope you like it." Luke's face was once again wearing a curious expression as he wondered why Chase was saying things so nicely and non-viciously today. His look of confusion was then replaced with a look of excitement as he saw what Chase had brought him, a bunch of his favorite foods!

"Oh, this looks so great Chase! I'm sure it'll taste good too; after all, your cooking's always amazing." Chase then felt his cheeks heat up a bit, and wondered why, seeing as he was told such things by so many people every day. He didn't know why it felt so different to hear the words come from Luke, still he remained quiet and didn't mention it. Then Luke looked a bit sad, "I promised my self that once I got my lunch, I still wouldn't eat until I got this tree down… I guess I'll get to it; do you want to stay and talk? I'm sure my job will be done sooner if I have someone keeping me company."

Chase shrugged nonchalantly on the outside, and hoped it wasn't obvious that on the inside he was screaming, '_Yes! Yes! Don't send me back to that Maya infested place! I was already sure I'll have a 'death by Maya,' and if I stay here with you, I'll have a day longer to live! Obviously-I'd rather stay here with you!' _Now if Luke heard that, Chase was sure he'd say he was overdoing it just a teeny bit-but no, he wasn't. Maya was definitely capable of killing him, unintentionally or not.

Luke handed Chase the Brown paper bag to hold until Luke was ready to eat, as Chase sat on a log nearby. Chase held it in his lap quietly and examined Luke closely as he grabbed his axe, "Just be careful with where you're swinging that thing Luke, I don't want you to be the end of me either…" Luke rolled his eyes and shook his head a bit, thinking Chase was just being a bit over protective of himself-after all, Luke knew how to use an axe better than anybody else in Waffle Island. He was pretty sure no one would get hurt… So he began to shop away at the tree again, trying his best to get it down soon.

"So, how's it been working at the Inn lately?" He managed to finally blurt out.

"Well, it's a bit tiring-and I have to sleep in every morning because of my late hours. But cooking is my favorite thing to do, so it's my perfect job-if I didn't have it, I'd want it." Chase replied, before sighing, looking down, and feeling stupid for his small amount of rambling-Luke only needed a brief answer, not his life story. Chase wondered if Luke thought so too.

On the contrary, Luke was grateful for the details-Chase was intriguing to him. "And is Maya still flirting with you everyday and bothering you?" He asked with an obvious amount of venom.

"Well," Chase began, "She still thinks that I'm going to eventually give in and marry her-yeah, over my own dead body I'll marry her! Every time I see that pink, puffy dress I want to throw up my previous meal. Needless to say, I can only eat at home. Not to mention those braids, sometimes I swear I want to yank them off her head-I can imagine myself being pushed too far by her one day, going into a blind rage, and actually doing it…" At that point he was attempting to imagine a bald Maya in his mind's eye.

He was quickly brought out of his thoughts as he heard Luke laugh at his reply before continuing his line of questions; he seemed pretty curious today. "And what about Yolanda? Is she still going hard on you because, 'you rely too much on your spices'?"

Chase smiled at Luke's quotation, "Yes, but she also mentions I've gotten a _tiny _bit better…I just haven't improved enough yet."

"And so when has she-" Luke never got to finish his fourth question as his axe struck the wrong part of the tree. He freed a lower hanging branch-but one which was still high enough and heavy enough to fall down and knock Chase in the head, knock him off the log he was sitting on, and cause Luke's food to splatter all over the ground. Still Luke went to Chase first; after all, when it came down to it, Chase was worth more than some spinach and mayonnaise was. He hauled the tree branch off of the chef's body before kneeling down beside him and laying his ear above his heart. He was never so relieved to hear pounding-but Chase was unconscious.

When Chase woke up he was pleasantly surprised to feel a thick blanket above him, and when he opened his eyes he was also surprised to see that he was in his own bed. Still, some aspects of his bedroom seemed strangely out of place-he could only put his finger on a couple of the offending details though. For one: The curtains on his window were pulled back to the sides, allowing an orange strip of sunlight to fall onto the northeast wall of his room; two: this comforter wasn't his, the pattern was completely different and didn't get along with the color scheme; etc., etc.

Without thinking he stifled a yawn and rose and sat up, rubbing his eyes a bit and catching sight of something he hadn't been able to see when he'd first woke up. Luke was sitting in the chair next to bed room door, he was leaned over very far-he was looking at the floor and seemed as if he'd been crying. Chase could tell he was feeling ashamed of him self. Chase looked down at his own hands for a while before hesitantly speaking to him, "Luke?"

Luke looked up at the orange haired chef with relief flooding his face, and he immediately flew from the chair and around to sit on the edge of the bed next to Chase. And contrary to his original belief of what would happen then, Chase didn't seem to mind it in the least. "I'm so sorry that I ended up hurting you!" He closed his eyes and waited for Chase to yell at him. After some moments passed and nothing happened, Luke hesitantly opened an eye to see what Chase was doing-he was surprised to see that Chase was simply sitting where he had been from the beginning, his eyes widened, his cheeks slightly pinked in a cute blush, and his mouth slightly open. So maybe when Luke said Chase didn't _seem _to mind, he did. He was just a bit embarrassed though-and he just blushed even more at the thought that it was only when he was with Luke that he could be so shy and embarrassed. He was usually acting too vicious and bad ass to be either.

Just then Chase said something, "I…Ah…It's…Okay?"

Then Luke smiled at him, "So all is forgiven?"

Chase nodded his head a bit too much and had to lie down after wards, he felt a bit light headed, and he though it might have to do with more then Luke getting on the bed with him.

As Luke saw Chase close his eyes and lay his head back on his pillows, he worried again and asked, "Chase, you have a thermometer around?" He was hopeful until Chase shook his head no, then he was simply irritated. Still he felt the need to check Chase's temperature, so he gently kissed the chef's forehead the way mothers usually would do for their children. At that moment, Chase's eyes flew open, startled by the cool lips on his over heating skin. Luke could tell Chase was burning up and pulled the blankets away, "I'll be right back, I'll go get you something to eat. You seem a bit hungry too."

Chase watched with suddenly tired eyes as Luke walked out of the room toward the kitchen, then he listened to the clattering of pots and pans as Luke attempted to make him soup. But he didn't feel bad for very long, soon he felt perfectly normal and he silently slipped from the bed into his hidden walk in closet. No one knew it existed even when they came into his house because he had it very well concealed, but just in case Luke came back into the room and freaked out that he was gone, he left the door way open. Then he stood in front of his full length mirror, he stifled yet another yawn and pulled his shirt off to inspect the damage that Luke's accident had caused.

He checked his head first; there he found a big purple bruise along his hair line-it also stung a bit when he put even slight pressure on it. He expected for that to be the worst of the damage though, due to the fact that the branch had the most force behind it when it had bopped him on the head. His eyes moved lower on his body and he saw smaller bruises scattered over his chest and stomach where the branch ended up once he'd fallen backwards. Chase scowled at the sight, but couldn't feel even the slightest bit of anger toward Luke-it was only an accident after all. He blushed again, remembering that if anyone but Luke had caused him such injuries he'd be as angry as hell and would be trying at every opportunity to get revenge.

Soon he was satisfied by the amount of time he'd spend checking over his bruises, and exited the secret walk-in closet. He closed the door completely so that it would remain secret too, then he headed out to the kitchen to check on how Luke was going with the soup. When he suddenly appeared next to Luke, the blue haired boy got quite a shock before getting upset and leading Chase to the table, "What are you doing, you're obviously sick and hurt; you can't be walking around and helping me cook." Luke kept his hands on Chase's shoulders even when Chase began to scowl at him-no doubt for treating him like a child.

"No Mom, I feel a lot better now. I'm not light headed anymore." He looked down at some of the still visible bruises, "The bruises ache a bit when I move certain ways, but not even the one on my head feels very terrible anymore." He closed his eyes for a few seconds and sighed, stirring some more worry in the blue haired boy before him. Luke's eyes narrowed in concern before he once again lowered his lips to Chase's too-warm forehead. Not satisfied at all with Chase's condition, Luke leaned back away from him and shook his head in a 'no' meaning gesture. "Well, excuse me, if I'm concerned that you might burn down my house," Chase muttered angrily, "Excuse me if cooking is one of the only things I live for, and I want to do it when I'm feeling down…"

Luke looked down at his own feet, "Excuse me if I care about your health and well-being, excuse me if you actually mean something to me, I don't even know why after you treat me like this so often!" He scowled, but still felt bad, "You're always sarcastic, and you always infuriate me…" He frowned at himself for yelling at Chase in the past seconds. "…Sorry…"

Chase nodded at his feet, "It's okay, I already know." He stood up and headed back towards the bedroom, "You aren't the first one to clarify that for me…"

Luke rubbed the back of his neck and sighed to himself, feeling terrible for saying such a thing to Chase-and in Chase's own house none the less. He racked his brains for something to say to the chef to make him feel better, but he ultimately ended up blurting out, "But I don't care! I _really _like you anyway!" To make matters worse, afterwards he shot, "Really, really, really, really... like-like you!" He opened his eyes without realizing that he'd closed them. He hadn't realized what words were coming out until they were out, and now he realized how afraid he was of rejection. Chase was frozen in the doorway to him room, shaking a bit, breathing heavily before continuing on into his room. Luke was left standing alone in the kitchen looking like a puppy that had just been kicked…hard…in the heart.

He thought for a few moments before deciding that he wanted a verbal answer, so he followed Chase into his bedroom. He didn't speak as he watched Chase sit up on his bed and pull his covers over his lap, he sat back down on the chair next to Chase's door and stared at Chase. Chase looked at him suspiciously before crossing his arms over his lap and turning toward the window.

"So I take it that I'm not getting an answer?" Luke sighed again, there seemed to be a lot of sighing in this house today.

"You got your answer," Chase mumbled, "It's simple Luke, but…" He hesitated, and when he finally said it, it sounded quite reluctant: "I'm sorry." However, when Chase saw Luke's hopeful face crack and fall apart he wanted to take his words back and give Luke the truth that he deserved to hear. The truth was that as soon as Chase had heard Luke tell him his equivalent of 'I love you,' he'd wanted to scream for joy, he'd wanted to say….he'd wanted to say…'I love you too…' Still, Chase knew he couldn't let anyone know that felt that way for Luke-because he plainly was not supposed to.

Luke got up from the seat he was in and quickly headed towards the kitchen to check on the food he'd been in the process of making. Luke was not surprised to see that he'd burned it though, he wasn't a very good chef-especially not when compared to Chase. So he went to the food and tried to save what he could-ultimately getting a sad excuse for one serving of food from what was supposed to be two servings. He sighed and sat the bowl on the kitchen counter before sitting in the chair that Chase had been sitting in when he'd ventured into the kitchen before Luke's confession. He felt like he must be falling into a depression, Chase had just _rejected _him and his feelings. He had imagined a million times what it would feel like to have Chase accept him, but not once had he imagined what it might feel like to have it blow up in his face.

He sat there for a while before he finally remembered that he had to bring Chase his food before it got too much colder-just because the chef had rejected him didn't mean he couldn't still care. He sighed yet again and went to the counter to grab the food before he ventured toward Chase's room.

"Chase?" He began as he entered the room, "I brought you something to eat." He saw that Chase was sitting upright on the bed and he was glaring daggers at the wall in front of him because there was nothing more important to look at. Still, when Chase heard Luke's voice he looked up and he stopped squinting his eyes. He looked surprised, almost as if he might have though that Luke had left him there alone. He suddenly began to crawl out of the bed.

"I don't want to eat in bed, I'd like to go to the kit-" But Luke had stopped him from getting out of the bed while he held the bowl in one hand.

"I don't think you should, you're just so…"

Chase began to look a bit hurt and tried to push past Luke again, but Luke was too much stronger then him. "Where you going to say fragile?" He asked angrily. Luke frowned down at him before Chase, in a futile attempt to escape from the bed accidentally knocked the food from Luke's hands and the soup splattered all over the floor. Both boys paused and were silent for a minute. Suddenly Chase moved slowly around Luke who wasn't stopping him anymore, "I'm sorry, you tried so hard to make that for me…" At the sincerity in Chase's voice, Luke looked up surprised. "I'll go get something to clean it up." But as he was walking toward the doorway to the kitchen, he slipped in the soup.

For a second, he was beginning to prepare himself for more bruises. Suddenly then, he felt someone catch him and pull him close to them. He wouldn't dare open his eyes in fear that the feeling would disappear, the way it felt for Luke to hold him like that. Still, he was willing himself not to get lost in it-he had remembered that he wasn't supposed to like Luke back. When Luke leaned away from him he felt like it was the worst thing in the world, but that was before Luke leaned forward again and their lips met.

If Chase thought he had to resist the urge to forget about his lies and come clean that he liked Luke back before, he felt it was unbearably difficult to resist now. Luke was making him light headed, weightless, like he was about to fall apart-and he usually was not that kind of person… He didn't understand way Luke was so hard to resist to him… Finally he broke.

He shifted his arms and wrapped them around Luke's neck, surprised to feel Luke's arms tighten around his waist. Chase knew that by putting his arms around Luke's neck, he'd accepted the kiss, but he was still surprised when Luke deepened the kiss. Now, It was obvious that Chase had an almost…feminine aspect to his appearance-and it was true that Luke was stronger from chopping down trees and such… Still, Chase couldn't stop himself from wondering why Luke had to be dominate when kissing him. And it completely didn't matter that Chase had _let_ Luke's tongue enter his mouth. They kissed that way for a good two minutes before they broke apart, still holding each other.

"I was going to say precious…"

"Huh?"

"You asked if I was going to say fragile, but no-I was going to say that you're precious."

'Luke, I love you too."


End file.
